Wallabies vs Springboks Pretoria Sat 28th August 4pm Sky Sports 4

Judgement Day

Australia: K Beale, J O'Connor, A Ashley-Cooper, M Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Q Cooper, W Genia, B Robinson, S Faingaa, S Ma'afu, D Mumm, N Sharpe, R Elsom (capt), D Pocock, R Brown.

Replacements: S Moore, J Slipper, B McCalman, S Higginbotham, L Burgess, B Barnes, A Faingaa.

South Africa: F Steyn, JP Pietersen, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana, M Steyn, F Hougaard, G Steenkamp, J Smit, J du Plessis, F van der Merwe, V Matfield, S Burger, J Smith, P Spies

Replacements: C Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, D Rossouw, R Kankowski, R Januarie, B James, J de Jongh.

Strong looking Boks starting line-up there although I hope they aren't going to need the bench.
Good to see Quade Cooper back after suspension - I hope he has a cracker as it might encourage him to stake his future on the Rugby Union game. Anybody think that the Aussies may feel the long awaited Boks backlash?

Paddy Power have the Boks as favourites to win at 1/3 on while the Aussies are 9/4 which looks seriously tempting to me.
Teams courtesy of www.scrum.com

2040

There's talk that Frans Steyn isn't fully fit or up to speed and that De Villiers might have selected him partly out of spite, in the hope that he has a bad game.

subfreq

Best back line of the tournament for the Boks.

Another 100th cap weekend, Matfield this time taking the honour on his home ground. You can be sure the blood will be pumping in the Highveld to get him the right result.

I don't think the Aussies will be able to shut the Boks out of points like NZ were able to early on and will ultimately need to play catch up. Their game plan must be to repeat Brisbane and tire the old guard out.

Love the Aussie bench. Impact in every spot. As long as the Aussies can stay within touching distance into the last 20 I think we have another grand stand finish on our hands.

thomond2006

2040 wrote: »

There's talk that Frans Steyn isn't fully fit or up to speed and that De Villiers might have selected him partly out of spite, in the hope that he has a bad game.

Best reason for a selection I've ever heard. Wouldn't surprise me at all mind.

I'd go for a marginal 'Boks win.

PhatPiggins

JD without wanting to sound like our pedantic uber lord who claims to work for the IRFU the home teams name should be listed first.

Sorry I don't know why I feel the need to correct you. Both parents are teachers, might be in the genes.

De Jong is very unlucky not to be included somewhere and Habana has been playing on reputation all season. The Boks price looks short for my liking but the Aussies have a terrible record on the Highveld

2040

PhatPiggins wrote: »

JD without wanting to sound like our pedantic uber lord who claims to work for the IRFU the home teams name should be listed first.

Sorry I don't know why I feel the need to correct you. Both parents are teachers, might be in the genes.

De Jong is very unlucky not to be included somewhere and Habana has been playing on reputation all season. The Boks price looks short for my liking but the Aussies have a terrible record on the Highveld

De Jongh.

My ol' man's a teacher. :P

Two games away from a Boks whitewash. Cmon the Aussies!

Stev_o

Probably will be a borefest but Aus are too light weight and they always implode on the 'Velt. Boks by 10 for me.

PhatPiggins

Stev_o wrote: »

Probably will be a borefest but Aus are too light weight and they always implode on the 'Velt. Boks by 10 for me.

Don't see it being boring no matter who wins. I fully expect the Boks to kick on with their more open game from last week and Oz's best chance is to run them ragged and clear the bench in the last 20.

Can see this being very high scoring myself

Judgement Day

I've just totalled the ages of each starting side and the Aussies come out with an overall age of 374 years between them while the poor 'old' Boks total is 404 years. What does this prove except that I need to get a life. Anyway by my reckoning the Boks 'old guard' such as Victor Matfield (33), John Smit (32), JDV (29) and Steenkamp (29) will tire and the Wallabies will run out winners. Boring, not bloody likely, but where will I find to watch it.



COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE MAN!

Judgement Day

The highlights of the Suncorp Stadium test of 24/7/2010 here again - worth watching just for Drew Mitchell's incredible try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpORgmryp0I

thomond2006

'P Divvy' jumps on the endorsement ladder.

duckysauce

thomond2006 wrote: »

'P Divvy' jumps on the endorsement ladder.

Judgement Day

Excellent preview from: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6340553,00.html

Done and dusted the Tri-Nations may be, but don't dare think there's little on the line when Australia come to Loftus on Saturday.

On South Africa's agenda will be all sorts of points to prove: that they can beat Australia, that they are well-enough conditioned to play the 'new law interpretations' and that they are evolving their game, even if in their own direction.

On Australia's side, there'll be the challenge of winning away, something they've not managed in the Tri-Nations for a while, and making sure they don't finish last. Come to think of it, that's very much on both teams' agendas. Very much.

Then there's individual points. John Smit's ghost from his 100th Test needs a quick exorcision; there'd be little better time to do it than on the occasion of right-hand man Victor Matfield's 100th Test (and apparently in front of at least 30,000 people wearing Victor Matfield cut-out masks, if one report is to be believed).

Next up: Frans Steyn. Is he injured? Does he want to play? Can he still play at this level after a year in France which coach Peter de Villiers has claimed leaves him a yard off the pace?

Other less nagging questions are pertinent to this Bok team. Is Flip van der Merwe going to cut it at this level? Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie are re-united, but is De Villiers of 2010 the same model as the one of 2007 that could put Fourie away through a mousehole with simple timing of the pass?

Perhaps you're seeing a theme to the review of this South Africa side so far, that of the unanswered question. It is one of those things this team used to be very very good at: leaving no detail unexamined, no failsafe untested. But this 2010 model is conspicuous for being considerably less roadworthy than it's predecessor; now it's back in the place where so much of this Bok model was constructed, are we going to see the flaws corrected? Another question. You just can't find any answers as to how this side, dominant in so many facets last year and for so long the benchmark for the world, has fallen from grace so.

Opposite them stand a few longer-standing doubts. We've heard for so long how Australia have been building and the foundations have looked sturdy indeed, but Wallaby fans around the place are beginning to wish that at least one storey could be put up without a fatal flaw being revealed.

Questions here too, personal and collective. Is Quade Cooper and Matt Giteau the most effective 10-12 axis? Can the Wallaby scrum continue to raise itself to the big occasion despite being palpably second best? Was the 30-13 win over the Boks a month ago yet another false dawn? Is this team really capable of more or is this just a good side being made to look ordinary in the toughest competition of all?

South Africa and their fans have a fair few chances to set a record straight in this Test. Refereeing it is Alain Rolland, who raised the ire of the Bok faithful in New Zealand just over a month ago by daring to whistle a few penalties for the opposition.

Pretoria is not a pretty place to go if you're not popular - particularly not when the locals have been whipped into a frenzy by the national anthem being belted out by Afrikaans folk-hero Toks van der Linde moments before the hundredth Test of Pretoria's favourite son Matfield - and Rolland will be under extraordinary pressure during this game. But Rolland is rarely flapped by such events and South Africa will need to be very careful of their own discipline. The fans will not give it to them and neither will Toks van der Linde.

Moreover, punishing any indiscipline will be a kicker coached this week by the native Braam van Straaten, as infectiously enthusiastic a kicking coach as you could wish for. If Matt Giteau was feeling a little shaky about his kicking before this week, Van Straaten will have ensured that not only is Giteau kicking better, but positively relishing each kick as a fun new experience as well.

No, make no mistake, this is not just a match-up between two runners-up, this is a no holds barred face-off between two embattled nations seeking redemption for all sorts of woes. It's going to be riveting viewing.

Ones to watch:

For South Africa: Enfant terrible or still the prodigal son? One feels that this match will be a test of more than just rugby abilities for Francois Steyn. Capable of 60m penalties just as much as he might be capable of breaking down after 60m running if Pierre Berbizier is to be believed, Saturday will see the wisdom of Steyn's French exile either proven or utterly discredited.

For Australia: Back from suspension and re-untied with Will Genia, the memory of Quade Cooper's abilities will not be lost on the Pretoria faithful after the Reds eked out a win over the Bulls in the Super 14, inspired by the very same Cooper. But it's one thing to win a provincial match in Suncorp, quite another to face the locals up north in SA. Cooper's supposedly suspect temperament will be given the most meticulous of examinations.

Head to head: The two finest blindsides in world rugby go mano a mano: Juan Smith and Rocky Elsom. As abrasive a battle as you could wish for between two men at the very heart of their respective teams.

Previous results:
2010: Australia won 30-13 in Brisbane
2009: Australia won 21-6 in Brisbane
2009: South Africa won 32-25 in Perth
2009: South Africa won 29-17 in Cape Town
2008: South Africa won 53-8 in Johannesburg
2008: Australia won 27-15 in Durban
2008: Australia won 16-9 in Perth
2007: Australia won 25-17 in Sydney
2007: South Africa won 22-19 in Cape Town
2006: South Africa won 24-16 in Johannesburg
2006: Australia won 20-18 in Sydney

Prediction: The Loftus factor to win it for the Boks. But only by a whisker - say five points!

South Africa: 15 Francois Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Janie du Plessis, 2 John Smit, 1 Gurtho Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Butch James, 22 Juan de Jongh.

Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Faainga, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Ben McCalman, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Faainga.

Date: Saturday, August 28
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Weather: Sunny, 17°C dropping fast after the sun goes down
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

thomond2006

Gits is living on reputation IMO, there's a case for having Faingaa at 12 to get them over the gain line.

Risteard

What a start for the Wallabies.

Lads stick on this match, its a cracker. 2 tries in the first 6 mins to the aussies

Risteard

Aussie scrum holding up well there.

Try SA.

Potential tryfest here.

thomond2006

Smith in for the try under the posts.

Risteard

Oh. My. God.:eek:

thomond2006

Missed the first two tries, who scored them?

omg 3rd for the aussies. Habana knocking it on

Risteard

Genia and O'Connor I think.

thomond2006

Habana fail!!!!!

Put some money on Aus this morning!

handsomecake

christ

thomond2006

Nice kick from Giteau.

7 - 21 :eek: Can't quite believe the scoreline.

handsomecake

thomond2006 wrote: »

Nice kick from Giteau.

7 - 21 :eek: Can't quite believe the scoreline.

and you would be right not to.its 21-6

handsomecake

handsomecake wrote: »

and you would be right not to.its 21-6

21-11

cruiserweight

5 tries in less than 15 minutes, pretty boring game so far

Risteard

Another one. **** sake I hope they slow down, I want to see some rugby not an endless procession of tries.

thomond2006

15 a side playing Sevens Rugby.

handsomecake

six nations= damp squib

thomond2006

handsomecake wrote: »

six nations= damp squib

I dunno, this is too freaky a game.

I agree with Risteard, this isn't rugby.

17-21, Steyn with a near 60m penalty kick.

Risteard

Finally. A penalty kick, exactly what this game needed.

ScrubsfanChris

Stev_o wrote: »

Probably will be a borefest

Risteard

Bonus Point.

kmart6

This is ridiculous!

handsomecake

4 try bonus point

amacachi

It's silly games like this that make me wish that Union actually was getting more like League. :pac:

thomond2006

Great awareness from Beale, finished by Nathan Sharpe.

Aus BP after 28 minutes! :eek:

Risteard

Best try of the game.

thomond2006

Feck. Spies in.

handsomecake

try spies

thomond2006

What in God's name was that from Moore?

Just like a soccer player passing a ball across the goal line.

ScrubsfanChris

amacachi wrote: »

It's silly games like this that make me wish that Union actually was getting more like League. :pac:

Careful now

SA 24 - 28 Aus
3 mins left in the half.

thomond2006

24 - 28 HT.

/takes breath

thomond2006

**** from Aus, first a stolen lineout, then a knockon just outside their 22.

27-28, Faingaa with a lazy high tackle and Steyn punishes.

cruiserweight

FFS it took 6 minutes to get a score in the second half

thomond2006

Giteau replies with a beauty from the halfway line.

thomond2006

****e, F Steyn try. Boks ahead.

cruiserweight

South Africa in the lead for the first time now